Child
by amphii
Summary: Lucina and Dark Pit are looking forward to the plans they've made with Shulk, but things end up changing when Shulk brings someone new along. (Rated T for swearing.)
**AN:** Alright, just a couple of notes for those who are unfamiliar with my previous fics:

One, Dark Pit still dislikes the name Pittoo, but makes an exception for Lucina and Shulk.

Two, characters are bound to be out of character, please don't point it out.

Now that that's out of the way, enjoy reading!

* * *

With his hands on his hips, Dark Pit rapidly tapped his foot against the floor while he awaited Shulk's arrival. It felt like an eternity since they asked him to meet them at Lucina's apartment, although in reality, it had merely been about an hour or so. As his patience began to wear thin, he let out a groan. "What the hell's taking him so long?" he complained.

Lucina was sitting on her couch, staring at her phone to watch the time. "I know," she said, looking mildly concerned as a new thought popped into her head. "I hope nothing's happened to him..."

"Doubt it. He probably just got distracted again like the last time," he replied flatly, then sighed. "Maybe we should just go to the park by ourselves."

Lucina stared at the clock for a few more moments, then put her phone away in her pocket. "Yeah, maybe you're right." She then got up from her seat and headed for the door, glancing over her shoulder at Dark Pit. "Let's go."

Before they could reach the door, however, it suddenly opened, revealing Shulk on the other side.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late!" he greeted with a smile. Shulk was bent forward with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "I had to do something else before heading over."

Dark Pit turned to Lucina and smirked. "Told ya," he sneered. Then he looked back to his boyfriend, his face becoming neutral once again. "So what happened, anyway?"

"I made a new friend!" Shulk announced. Then he straightened his posture and turned to his side. "Hey Toony, wanna meet my friends?"

A few moments passed and nothing happened, until Toon Link finally peeked his head in the doorway. The boy took one glance at Dark Pit and Lucina, then retreated behind the wall.

"It's okay, I promise they're nice!" Shulk insisted.

Toon Link awkwardly stepped sideways into view, standing still for only a second before rushing behind Shulk's legs. Dark Pit and Lucina were stunned, expecting to see an adult like themselves rather than a kid.

" _That's_ your new friend?" Dark Pit scoffed, crossing his arms. "I don't feel like babysitting right now."

Lucina glared at Dark Pit, elbowing him in the arm for his rude remark. "Toon Link's a _child_ , Pittoo. Not a baby," she corrected.

The angel looked away and huffed. "Same difference."

She rolled her eyes at him, then turned back to Shulk. "So how did you two become friends, anyway?"

"Well..." Shulk began, lost in thought for a moment as he tried to remember everything, "earlier, me and Ike went to this restaurant together, and we saw Toony eating pancakes and looking really sad. So Ike asked what was wrong, and Toony said that his friend Mega Man got hurt and he didn't know how to help him since he's a robot. Then I told him that Samus is really good at repairing stuff, so I quickly brought her over and she fixed him up in no time!" he finished, looking down to flash Toon Link a smile. "Ever since, Toony's been following me around everywhere!"

With her hand pressed against her chin, Lucina slowly nodded. "Ah, _now_ I see." Then she walked over and knelt down in front of Toon Link, smiling. "So 'Toony,' you wanna go get some ice cream together?" she asked, which made Dark Pit glare at her.

Toon Link slowly blinked at Lucina. "Is Shulk coming too?" he whispered. When Lucina nodded, he looked down to his feet as he considered her offer. "Okay."

"Great..." Dark Pit mumbled to himself.

Lucina stood up and offered her hand to Toon Link, prompting him to walk out from behind Shulk and hesitantly grab it. Then he grabbed Shulk's hand as well, and all three of them headed out of the apartment, while Dark Pit trailed behind them with his arms crossed.

* * *

Walking through the front door of the ice cream parlor, the group withdrew their hands as they made their way toward the counter. Kirby was standing on top of a raised stool behind the counter, patiently waiting to take orders from the newly arrived customers.

Shulk scanned the different trays of ice cream, contemplating what flavor to order. Then he pointed to a tray of strawberry ice cream and looked at Kirby. "I want that one, please."

Kirby stared at him, then looked at Dark Pit and Lucina expectantly.

"I'd like vanilla, please," Lucina said.

Dark Pit met Kirby's blank stare with his own. "I want chocolate."

Lucina bent down to grab Toon Link, then held him up to see the counter. "What flavor do you want?"

He looked over the different flavors, his eyes settling on a tray of green ice cream with brown speckles. He pointed to it through the glass, causing Lucina to peer curiously over his shoulder.

"Oh, you want the mint chocolate chip?" she questioned. When she received a nod in return, she chuckled and turned her attention back to Kirby. "We'll take that one too, please."

Having received all their orders, Kirby smiled brightly. "'Kay!" He then began scooping out the different flavors, putting them on cones and handing them out to his respective customers.

"Thank you!" Shulk and Lucina replied in unison before walking over to one of the empty tables with their friends. Everyone sat down side by side and began eating, except Dark Pit who was trying to work up the appetite for his ice cream.

Lucina leaned forward to look at Shulk, who was on the opposite side of Dark Pit. "So Shulk, did you give Toon Link the nickname 'Toony' yourself?"

Shulk went to speak, but was interrupted by Toon Link, who was sitting the farthest away from Lucina. "No. All my friends call me Toony, so I told him to call me that too."

"Ah, okay then," she responded with a nod. "Well it's a very cute name!" She paused as she recalled some of her own nicknames from her childhood, which she figured was worth mentioning as it pertained to the conversation. "Y'know, when I was younger–"

Lucina cut herself off when Luigi bumped into Toon Link's back, making him drop his ice cream on the table. Toon Link only stared at his spilt food, his face plain and unreadable.

A moment later, Luigi realized his mistake and gasped, staring at Toon Link wide-eyed. "O-Oh gosh, I'm sorry!" he apologized as he began shaking. "I-I didn't mean to, I swear!"

"It's okay! Don't worry about it," Shulk assured him with a smile. Luigi didn't seem convinced, but sadly nodded regardless.

Struggling to see Toon Link from her spot, Lucina decided to call out to him from over Dark Pit's head. "It's alright Toony, we'll just buy you another ice cream cone, okay?"

Dark Pit sighed and held out his cone to Toon Link. "Here, take mine. I haven't eaten any of it yet, and I don't really want it anyway."

He stared at the angel's hand in surprise, then nodded and took the cone from him.

Having been touched by his generosity, Lucina smiled and gave Dark Pit a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Pittoo."

Shulk joined in and gave Dark Pit a kiss on his opposite cheek, feeling equally touched. "That was really nice of you!"

Dark Pit's face turned red as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes, trying his hardest to act tough. "W-whatever."

While the two smothered their partner, Bowser entered the ice cream parlor, carrying a small jacket over his shoulder. "Hey Luigi, you forgot your–" he interrupted himself when he noticed how scared Luigi looked, which rapidly made his blood boil. He then stomped over to Lucina, his claws on his hips. "Hey! What the _hell_ are you jerks doing to Luigi?!"

She turned and glared at the beast, clenching her hands into fists. "I think you should calm down for a second before jumping to conclusions."

Bowser bared his teeth and poked a claw into her chest. "Hold up, what gives you the right to scare Luigi _and_ tell me what to do?!"

That was the final straw for Lucina, who stood up and poked a finger into his chest as well. "Well, what the fuck gives _you_ the right to start yelling in my face over nothing?!"

As Lucina and Bowser began arguing with each other over the misunderstanding, everyone else just watched in silence, unsure of what to do in the situation.

"This could be a while," Dark Pit commented, eyes half-lidded with annoyance. Shulk and Toon Link both slowly nodded in response before getting out of their seats, using the scene as a distraction to slip outside unnoticed.

Stopping a little bit down the sidewalk, Shulk turned to Toon Link with a worried expression. "I hope you don't think Lucina's mean because of this... I promise, she's really nice!" he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "She just gets angry easily, that's all..."

Before Toon Link could say anything, Dark Pit let out a short laugh. "Yeah, I remember this one time when Lucina argued with Samus for three hours straight!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that..." Shulk replied with a frown.

"Man, I don't even remember why they were arguing, but they were so pissed that they didn't talk for like, two weeks after that!" the angel continued, laughing some more.

Suddenly the ice cream parlor door swung open as Kirby pushed Bowser and Lucina out of the store, looking unusually furious. "Be nice!" he squeaked, slamming the door shut behind him.

As Luigi ran out after them, Bowser crossed his arms and huffed. "Whatever, I don't need this. C'mon Luigi, let's go," he grumbled, grabbing Luigi's hand before storming off.

While they all stared at Bowser as he left, Lucina walked in front of Toon Link and knelt down to him, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry you had to see that side of me, Toony... honestly, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to hang out with me again after that."

There was a short period of silence, then a small smile formed on Toon Link's face. "Actually, I'd love to hang out again!"

" _Really?_ " both Lucina and Dark Pit said in shock.

"Well, yeah! I think you guys are really cool!"

Lucina blinked at him, trying to figure out how he got that impression of her. "Huh," she murmured. Then she smiled and patted Toon Link's head. "Well, feel free to hang out with us whenever you want, okay?"

"Yeah! We'd love to have you around, Toony!" Shulk added, smiling as well.

Dark Pit only gave a curt nod, his arms crossed.

While Toon Link stared in awe over their acceptance, Shulk picked him up and placed him on his shoulders. "Now let's go to the park!"

"Okay!" Toon Link agreed, holding onto Shulk's head.

"I almost forgot we were heading there," Lucina said in an amused tone, grabbing Shulk's hand.

Taking Lucina's lead, Dark Pit walked up and grabbed Shulk's opposite hand. "It's about time."

The group walked down the sidewalk together, happy to add an unexpected member to their little ragtag team.


End file.
